Transmission-gearing for motor-propelled vehicles.



W.S. HARLEY.

TRANSMISSION 'OBARINO FOR MOTOR PROPELLBD VEHICLES.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 18, 1912.

1,094,558, O Patented Apr.28,1914.

B SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l LA, f

W. S. HARLEY. TRANSMISSION GEARING PoR MoToR BROPBLLED VBHIGLBS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1912. i

21,094,558, Patented Apnzs, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. S. HAR-LEY. TRANSMISSION GBARING POR MOTOR PROPBLLBD VEHICLES.

APPLIOATION'PILBD NOV. 18, 1912.

Patented Api. 28, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W. S. HARLEY. TRANSMISSION GEARING POR MOTOR PROPBLLED VEHICLES.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 18, 1912.

Patented Apr. 28,-1914.

6 SHEBTS*SHBET 4;.

@2Q/mm l @WI/0m i mfg o I y W'. S. HARLEY. TRANSMISSION GEARING FOB. MOTOR PROPBLLED VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.18, 1912.

Patented Apr.28, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

WI s. HARLEY. TRANSMISSION GEAEINGNFOE MOTOR PROPELLED VEHICLES.

APPLIOAHON FILED NOV. 18, 1912.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

Q I l Q S I ib Iy g I l I 5L k` 1Q N E m E m D v A a u lb In D QQ QQ WILLIAM s. HARLEY, or nrnwnunsn, wisconsin.

' TRANSMISSION-GEAING FOR- MOTOR-PRQEELLEDVEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patente/anpe 2s., 191,4.

Application fledfNovember 18, 1912. Serial No. 732,074.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, 4WILLIAM S. HARLEY,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukeev 45A and State of'vV-isconsin, have invented ceri tain new and useful Improvements in Transmission-Gearing for Motor-Propelled Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof. y

My invention refers especially to motorcycle driving gear, its primary object being to provide simple, economical and effective means for controlling the application of power from the motor to the driven traction wheel of such vehicles.

Specific objects of my invention are to provide a connection between the pedalcarrying crank-shaft and motor, whereby the latter may be started by movement of U y said crank-shaft in one direction aftera manual operation to free the traction wheel from said motor, the motor being thus started while the vehicle is at rest. 2.5 Another object of my invention is to'provide means in connection with the crank- Shaftfor setting a traction-wheel brake by ja reverse movement from that effected in af motor-starting operation. A further object of my invention is to provide means in connection with the pedalcarrying crank-shaft whereby the shock due to reversal from back-firing, incidental to cranking the engine, is for the most part absorbed in a traction-wheel brake mecha- Vnism, the unspent energy due to such premature explosion being relievedby a friction clutch. mechanism disposed between the aforesaid crank-shaft and. brake mechanism.

v Hence it will be seen that by employing the usual manually controlled clutch-lever in connection with the rear traction-wheel driving mechanism and the crank-shaft theV motorl can be started, the traction-wheel p freed and brake applied thereto and in Aaddition accidents nated. l

With the above and other minor objects in view the invention consists in certain pedue to back-firing are elimiculiarities of construction andcombinationof parts as hereipafter set forth with refT erence tothe accompanying drawings and y subsequently claimed. In the drawings Figure l represents a sectional plan view of a portion of a motorcycle embodying the features of my inveni tion, the section being indicated by line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same lookin toward the gear side of said4 machine; Fig. 3, a similar sideelevation looking from the reverse side with parts broken away to illustrate certain .structural features; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail sectional View of the pedal-carrying crank-shaft and lts connections,y the section being indicated by l1ne 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig., 5, an elevation Qof the same partly 1n section as indicated by line 5-'5vof Fig. 4.-; Fig. 6, a cross-section of the crank-shaft mechanism, the section being indicated by line 6--6 of Fig. 4,' and 70 Fig. 7, an enlarged detail sectional view of the traction-wheel hub and its connections, the section beingindicated by line 7-7 of Fig. 3, with a portion of the hub in. full. Referring by 'characters to the drawings 1 7'5' represents the seat-mast of a motorcycle frame, and 2, 3, respectively, the upper and lower 4rear fork members which members are connected atthe point of intersection by a slotted head 4 that receives a rigid axle 5, 30KA i the same servingV asa support for the' hub 6 of a traction-wheel 7 of ordinary constructlon. f

Fixed' in a suitable loop extension of the seat-mast is the usual type of motor A, the vai; shaft of which'carrie's a drive-wheel 8 in the form of a sprocket. Brazedor other-v wise secured to the lower rear' fork member 3- is a tubular hanger 9 having an adjustable eccentric journal block'l() fitted therein for 90 the reception .of a crank-shaft 11. The eccentrically arranged journal-block 10 confstitutes no part of my present invention and is provided Vfor the purpose of adjusting tension of the power transmission belts'to be 95 lhereinafter described, the said belt tightener mechanism' being fully set forth in an application for patent filed by "me July 13, 1912, for improvements in transmission gearing,

Serial Number 709,160. In brief, as shown, 1 oo the above described belt tightener mechanism embodies an eccentric bearing-collar l2,V

the hub .of which is rotatorily adjustable about one end of the tubular hanger, the eccentric journal-block being similarly adjust- .105 ed withinthe latter, whereby after a belttightening operation the collar and crankshaft are concentrically alined. The face of the bearing-collar 12 has mounted thereon the hub of a double-faced power transmisvsion wheel 13, which wheel is shown in the form of a stepped sprocket having toothed faces 14 and 15, which-wheel under normal j running conditions mustreyolve concentric with the crank-shaft. Carriedby `the transpawls 17 that are pivoted 1toa collar 18, theV mission-wheel 13 isl a hubl member inthe formof an internall 'ratchet-toothed wheel 16, which wheel isa aptedto be engaged by samebeing rigidlysecured to. the crankshaft. These pawls vcarry spring-metal tails that arein frictional .engagement with one faceV of the ncn-rotatory bearing' collar 12,

and hence vwhen the shaft is rot-ated in the same direction as the working faces of the l pawls are extended `their tail engagement 15 "will cause them to recede-radially and revolve clear of the ratchet-teeth of wheel 15, the directionof rotation being indicated by thefullline arrow in Fi 5.v Hencewhen kvthe crank-shaft is revolve in the above indicated direction the pawls are free to revolve clear of the ratchet-wheel teeth, whereby rattle and its lconsequent wear is avoided.

.The above described movement is effected' in -aback-pedaling operation and should the crank-shaft be revolved in a reverse direction as indicated by the dotted arrow,I it is apparent thatthe frictional engagement of the tails of the pawls 17 will cause 'them to expand radially and thus-effect a clutching engagement with the ratchet-wheel 16, whereby the transmission'wheel 13 fwill be 'drivenin the same direction as the engine is y'rotated to effect a starting operation. These details of construction constitute a one-way the hub of the crank-arm 19 by threaded engagement therewith, the outer end of said thimble serving to bind and rigidly secure a series of spring fingers 22 and also a housing 23 to said crank-arm hub, whereby all of the parts together with thecrank-shaft forma mechanical unitand rotate as such. Loosely yso mounted upon the thimble is a hub 24 of zu ratchet-wheel 25 and also a disk 26, the lat'- ter carrying avseries ofpivoted pawls 27 that are arranged to engagethe ratchet-wheel. The pawls 27 are provided with spring-tails that straddle and frictionally engage with the faces of said ratchet-wheel, whereby they arev disengagedincidental to rotation of the crank-shaft in the direction of the arrow as indicated in Fig. 6, which direction corresponds to the direction of the dotted arrow in Fig. 5 that is-eifected in forward pedaling to start the engine. Hence it will be seen that the ratchet-wheel 25 is free to revolve whenthe intermediate transmission wheel13 is being rotated and upon a reverse movement of the crank-shaft the said wheel 13 is free to revolve while the ratchet-wheel 26 isv engaged. T e

hub 24 of the ratchet-wheel 25 carriesa series of friction-plates 28 that are intermeshed with a corresponding series of platesv 29, which latter are revoluble with the housing 23. The two series of nested plates be- `v ing under predetermined compression, by the force of the springs 22, thus prevent slippage of the ratchet-wheel under all normal conditions. vHence said'ratchet-wheel u ndery such conditions is revoluble with the crankshaft. The. function of these'plates is therefore to provide a permanent friction clutch between the crank-shaft and ratchet-wheel, the pawl carrying disk l26 being at all times l freely movable, except when its pawls are interlocked with the ratchetwheel, which action is effected by rotating said wheel in a back pedaling.directionindicated by the dotted arrow. The points ofthe pawls are arranged to engage the ratchet-wheel when the crank-shaft is so revolved,in which in-` stance the double-faced gear-wheel 13 is free.

Asbest shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the motor drive-wheel 8 is connected by a belt 30 to the sprocket-wheel face 14 'of the transmission wheel 13, its toothed face 15 being connected by a' belt 31 to a traction drive wheel 32 that carries corresponding sprocket-teeth for engagement with the belt and which wheel is loosely mounted upon the hub 6 of the tra'cthe traction drive wheel 32 is in this instance arranged to be connected and disconnected from the hub6 by friction clutch mechanism such as disclosed in a patent issued to me March 12, 1912, No'. 1020199, the same comprising a set of friction disks 33 that are cartion wheel 7. As best illustrated in Fig. 7,

ried by the driven wheel 32 and adapted to v be engaged by a second set of spring-pressed friction disks 34, which latter are carried by a head 35 that is rigidly secured to the traction wheel hub. The traction drive lwheel 32 islocked or unlocked from the hub 'of the traction-wheel by manipulation of .a nut' 36, which nut vis turned in or out upon a non-rotarythreaded block 37, whereby the friction-plates are contracted under spring pressurethrough the medium of yplungers 3S, allofwhich construction forms no part of my present invention. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 7 of the drawings `the clutchnut 36 has an eared flange 38 that is linked to an actuating hand-lever 39, which lever isconveniently positioned .and fulcrumed upon a bracket that extendsl from the seat-mast 1 of the frame.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings the disk 26 that is revoluble about the pedalcarrying crank-shaft 11, is provided with a projecting ear 40, which ear is connected by a rod 41 t-o an arm 42 of a braking cra-nk. Thisbraking crank is journaled in a nonrotatory brake-incasing head 43, the same 4 being mounted about the traction-wheel axle 5 and is held fast by a clip 44 that in turn is secured to one of the rear fork members 3. One leg 45 of the braking crank is connected to the free endof a brake-band 46, the opposite end of which band is permanently secured to the casing-head. The outer face of the brake-band 46 is arranged to engage the inner face of a housing shell 48 that is carried bythe traction wheel hub 6, all of which construction is clearly illustrated and described in the above referred to patent of March 12, 1912. v

While I have shown and described a speciic clutch and brake mechanism for controlling the traction wheel and also a specific clutch for eecting engagement between the double face transmission wheel and pedal-carrying crank, it is apparent that I may, without departing from the spiritl of myinvention, embody various formsof such mechanical devices in carrying out my invention. y r

From the foregoing description it is apparent that to4 start the motor the operator pedals the crank-shaft forwardly in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. v2,

this movement causing clutching engagement between the double-faced transmission wheel 13 and collar 18 of the crank-shaft. Prior to the pedalin operation however it is understood that't e operator shifts the actuating lever 39, whereby the nut 36 is rotated to release the friction clutch connection between the traction-wheel hub 6 and traction drive wheel 32 mounted thereon.

Hence the machine will remain at a standstill and after the engine is` started by the forward pedaling operation its power will immediatelybe transmitted to the transmission wheel v13 and rear traction drive wheel 32, both of which are now idly rotated and it is understood that the direction of travel of said transmission wheel will cause disengagement with its toothed' hub-wheel 16 from the pawl 17, thesame beingdepressed by action ofthe teeth' and held in said depressed position by their frictionalv engagement with the bearing-collar 12. Should the motor back-fir'ein a starting operationit is apparent that through its belt connection with the transmissionwheel 13 and clutch connection of the latter with the crank-shaft that said shaft would be reversed in its rotation. This reversal will immediately cause the pawls 27 of the braking disk 26'to be thrown into mesh with the ratchet-wheel 25, whereby the said disk will be rocked in the direction as indicated by the dotted arrow in Figs. -6 and 3, t hereby the brake mechanism will engage thev housing .48 'of the hub 6 and thus lock said crank-shaft against further backward movement, which shock will be distributed to the tractionwheel that is now at rest. It is apparent that should the engine continue to rotate in a reverse direction after the brake mechanism has been set that serious daniage would occur to the machine. .This is avoided by the prcdeterminedly set clutch mechanism which frictionally locks the ratchet-wheel 25 with the crank-shaft, said mechanism permitting slippage of the locked disk 26 and ratchet-wheel upon the sleeve 21 to thus absorb the overload strain from the motor gradually, whereby the crank-shaft will only revolve slowly and not injure the operator or the machine. After the engine has been started .power is applied to the traction wheel through manipulation of the lever 39, whereby the traction drive wheel 32 is positively clutched to the hub 6 of said tractionwheel, this operation being common to a cer- .tain type tof machines -of the described character.

It' is apparent that I may, without departing from the spirit of my invention, substitute flat belts and pulley-wheelsv for the sprockets and chain-belts shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle of the vcharacter described having a frame, a motor, a traction wheel, a traction drive-wheel, a manually controlled clutch mechanism for' interlocking the traction drive-wheel and traction-wheel, a traction-wheel brake, and a crank-shaft -journaled upon the frame; the combination of a transmission wheel loosely mounted about the crank-shaft, means for locking the transmission wheel to the crank-shaft when the same is rotated in one direction, and belts connecting the said transmission wheel with the Vmotor and traction drive-wheel, a one-way clutch-controlledl brake actuating means carried by the crank-shaft and connected to the traction drive-wheel brake, whereby said'brake is set when the crankshaft is rotated in a reverse direction from that aforesaid, and a predeterminedly tensioned means for connecting the one-way clutch-controlled brake-actuating means, whereby said clutch is free to slip. under abnormal load strain.

2; In a vehicle ofthe described character havinga frame, a motor, a traction-wheel, atraction drive-wheel therefor,A a manually controlled clutch mechanism interposed between the traction-wheel andy its traction drive-wheel, a traction drive wheel brake, a

-pedal-carrylng crank-shaft, a clutch-controlled transmission wheel carried by the crank-shaft, and belts connecting the clutchcontrolled crank-shaft wheel, motor and/LVS() loosely mounted. about said crank-shaft,A

means .for locking the clutch-wheel and disk together when the crank-shaft is rotated in one direction, .and spring-controlled friction `Y'means for holding the clutch-wheel in rotatory engagement with the aforesaid crankshaft under normal load strain.

3. In va vehicle of the character described having -a frame, a motor, a traction wheel, a traction drive-Wheel, a manually7 controlled clutch mechanism for interlocking the traction drive-wheel and traction-wheel, a traction-wheel brake, and a pedal-carrying crank-shaft journalcd upon the frame;

the combination of a transmission-wheel looselyT mountedh about the crank-shaft, a.

belt connection between the transmissionwheel and motor, a belt connection between the transmission-wheel and drive-wheel, and a one-way clutch mechanism carried by the crank-shaft connected to the traction-.wheel brake whereby said brake is setv when the crank-shaft is rotated in a reverse or rearward direction due to back-lire of the motor. In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin in the presence of two witnesses.'

, VVILLIAlVI S. HARLEY.`

Witnesses:

EDWIN F. CASPER,

E. J. MUELLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, 10.6. 

